Burden of Dreams
In 1979, German filmmaker Werner Herzog set out to produce a movie about a rubber baron who dreamed of bringing the opera to the jungles of South America. Herzog's film, which would be titled Fitzcarraldo after the protagonist's name, took four years, as well as literal blood, sweat, and tears, to make. Moreover, the plot of Filzcarraldo eerily parallels the actual process by which Herzog made his film. Both depict a European man hauling his pride and ambition to a world in which he remains sorely out of place, imposing on the indigenous society and environment a set of foreign ideals. American documentary filmmaker Les Blank followed Herzog and his crew through the harried production of Fitzcarraldo and the result was the Academy Award-winning feature-length documentary entitled Burden of Dreams. The aptly-titled "making of" documentary captures the near-insanity of Herzog's ambitiousness, and also subtly illustrates the various levels of culture clash that have resulted from colonialism.
The Spanish effectively helped decimate the native cultures in the Amazon, who are still being systematically persecuted and their land exploited. Although Herzog's attitude is respectful, the making of his film demonstrates the still-lingering colonial attitudes held by persons of European descent. These attitudes mainly entail a sense of entitlement: Burden of Dreams depicts Herzog's own brand of "manifest destiny." While the documentary is mostly neutral in its portrayal of Herzog, Blank cannot help but use his film to express certain admiration for the obsessively driven German filmmaker.
The most disturbing aspect of Burden of Dreams in regards to culture clash is actually the central motif of the documentary as well as of Fitzcarraldo: moving a ship over a mountain. In order to capture the raw emotion inherent in such an impossible task, Herzog wanted to recreate the situation exactly. Herzog discovered the ship he wanted in Columbia. When any ordinary person...
Thus, the most disturbing aspect of the documentary is essentially summed up by the title of the film itself: the burden of dreams. Moving a ship over a mountain remains the central symbol of the burden of dreams because it sums up an egotistical and colonial mentality. All conquering peoples share in common egotistical dreams, dreams that clash with the dreams of the vanquished. Fulfilling egotistical dreams entails accomplishing what would normally be considered impossible or ridiculous feats, such as moving a ship over a mountain.
Herzog's dream becomes a burden to himself and to others around him. Blank shows how Herzog drags down the wills of his crew, by forcing them to endure harsh and unfamiliar conditions in the jungle. Herzog admits that he could have shot Fitzcarraldo just as easily from the town of Iquitos in Peru, where his crew would have had access to the comforts of everyday life such as adequate food, water, and medical supplies as well as access to means of communication with family and friends. However, Herzog believed that only the jungle could bring out certain character traits in his cast and crew, a definitively paternalistic attitude. Throughout the production of the movie, Herzog has an attitude of "daddy knows best," both with the indigenous peoples and with his Western colleagues. For example, he and Klaus Kinski, who assumed the role of Fitzcarraldo after Robards left the set, clashed heads on numerous occasions. Their interpersonal clashes, and Herzog's clashes with other Westerners, show that Herzog's dreams were a burden to more than just the native population.
Although Herzog expresses genuine respect and concern for the native peoples and the environment, the filmmaker nevertheless demands more from his crew than was necessary to produce the film. Herzog could have made…
